Let’s just call him a blast from the past.

Tom Heise returned to some very familiar landscape this fall: patrolling the sidelines for the Big Green boys varsity soccer team. Heise, who spent the past seven years coaching the Deerfield JV program, tutored the varsity for 11 years, from 1993 to 2004 and during that time, took them to six tournament berths and to one Western New England Prep School Soccer Association title, that coming in 1995.

“It seemed good to get back into the swing of things on the varsity level,” said Heise, who filled in for Jan Flaska, who is spending the year on hiatus at the University of Chicago. Unfortunately, it took a little time before everyone really got into the swing of things.

The Big Green went 0-4 in September, but bounced back for a 5-3-1 mark in October and then finished with a 2-1 showing in November. “We got off to a slow start this season,” said Heise, “but I’m really proud of the way the kids bounced back. In fact, I think if we could have come up with another win or two, I think we could have made the tournament.”

Deerfield Academy’s final overall record read 7-8-1 following an 0-4 start, and 6-6-1 in league play, “and we finished 13^th out of a field of 57 teams,” said Heise. “This is a very highly competitive league, so that says a lot about the way the kids were able to battle back.”

During those first four games, Deerfield went up against some of the league’s best, falling to a future No. 2 seed Worcester Academy, 5-1, and a Kent School squad, 4-3, that would eventually earn a fourth seed in tourney play. The other two early setbacks came at the hands of Suffield, 2-0, and Taft, 3-0.

“Following that loss to Kent on September 29, we started October off with three wins and a tie and went 7-4-1 the rest of the way,” said Heise. And one of those victories proved to be a 3-2 decision over Hotchkiss, which would later earn fifth seed in tourney play. Other tourney-bound teams Deerfield hung tough with during regular season play were No. 3 Exeter, which edged the Big Green, 1-0, sixth-seeded Loomis, meanwhile, prevailed, 2-1. Deerfield earned a 2-1 win over seventh-seed Andover, while eighth-seed Choate rang up a 1-0 victory.  

As is the case with most early season slumps, the losing team scores less goals than it allows, and such was the case with Deerfield. It was shut out twice during the early going, while being outscored by a 14-4 margin. Ironically, the Big Green would allow just 28 goals all season long, meaning after allowing 14 goals in its first four games, it would allow only another 14 through the remaining 12 games of the schedule. Offensively, it would produce 20 goals over those last dozen games.

“We were in every game we played this season,” said Heise, and one of the biggest reasons that Heise could make that statement was his goaltender Andrew Shedlac (13), as “he put on one of the finest goaltending performances this season that I’ve ever seen.” Even after allowing 14 goals in his first four games, the postgraduate from Winchester, Mass., settled down and finished with a 1.87 goals against average. In order to accomplish that feat, Shedlac allowed one goal or less (three shutouts) in nine of his final 12 games and earned All-New England laurels for his efforts.

“After those first four games, I think we started to jell,” said Shedlac, who posted a 30-2-4 record during two years of goaltending at Winchester High School and is looking to play Division III soccer in college next year. “Our ability to bounce back from that slow start is a real credit to the entire team. This was a group of guys who were outstanding athletes and although soccer isn’t the No. 1 sport for many of them, they never stopped working … they never gave up. And it paid off … we came within a win or two from making the playoffs.”

Up front, Jackson Dayton (13), who shared this year’s Holbrook-Ellis Cup as the team’s Most Valuable Player Award with Shedlac, led the offensive charge, as he produced 15 points on 12 goals and three assists and was later named to All-New England squad as well as the All-League team. Dan Blohm (13) was the club’s second leading scorer, with six goals and seven assists for 13 points, while Steve Baisch (14) earned All-New England and All-League status after a season that saw him finish third in scoring with nine points on three goals and six assists. Luke Walsh (13) meanwhile, had quite a season for himself on the scoring charts as well. Although he tallied just four goals on the season, three of them ended up being game winners in a 2-1 win over Northfield Mount Hermon, a 3-2 victory over Hotchkiss and 1-0 win over Avon.

Other key contributors this fall were midfielders Conner Romeyn (13) and Zz Salvador (14) while Adam Phille (13) and Cole Horton (14) stood out on defense.

Baisch, Horton and Salvador will be next year’s tri-captains.

Through the first two months of its 2012 campaign, the word “awesome” had become synonymous with the Deerfield Academy field hockey program. It owned a 10-2-1 record and had already secured an invitation to postseason play for the 19^th time in its 23 years of existence.

Then, the Big Green ran into some turbulence – in the form of Hurricane Sandy. “The result being that we were forced to cancel three of our last four games,” said coach Kristen Veiga of a 15-day layoff that took her team out of competitive play from Oct. 26 to Nov. 10. “And that’s a long stretch, especially when you’re preparing to head into tournament play.

In Deerfield’s case, it proved to be too long a layoff. It would return to action on the final day of the regular season and drop a 4-2 decision to a Choate team that the very next day would receive a fifth seed in the upcoming tournament. Deerfield, meanwhile, which now stood at 10-3-1 would earn a seventh seed and be in the unenviable position to take on second-ranked Greenwich Academy in first-round play. Unfortunately for Deerfield, the Gators had a date with destiny this fall, as they bounced the Big Green big time in the opener, 7-0, then ended up snapping a 10-year title run by Hotchkiss via a 2-1 final-round victory in overtime.

“This was a special team,” said Viega, who owns a 20-9-2 record through two years as the squad’s head coach. “We only had five seniors on this year’s team, so although we went 10-5-1 last year, I feel as though we exceeded expectations this season because of some great senior leadership … especially from Kelsey Gallagher (13) and Louisa Hanson (13) … and some outstanding play from many of our younger players. The big thing is that we put together a solid effort during the regular season and earned another tournament berth.”

This was a team roster that was cut into quarters: five seniors, five juniors, five sophomores and six freshmen, so three quarters of them return and half of them already have 20 victories under their belts.

“It’s exciting about what we have going on here,” said Viega, whose team outscored its opponents by a better than 2-1 margin during the regular season. “We’ve got a great blend of youth and experience and talent and we’re hoping we can continue to get some new faces in here every year to continue to build on this success we have had.”

Mettler Growney (13), who received this year’s Deerfield Hockey Cup as the team’s Most Valuable Player, is one of those key contributors who won’t be around next season as she capped off her four-year career with the Big Green by leading it in scoring with 19 points on 15 goals and four assists. Lucy Lytle (15) will be on the scene for two more years, however, as the talented sophomore was second in scoring with 11 goals and five assists for 16 points.  She now has 21 points in two years, having netted three goals and two assists as a freshman. Emily Yue (16), meanwhile, helped out with the scoring with three goals and a pair of assists for five points.

While the Growney-Lytle combo was accounting for nearly two of every three goals the Big Green scored this season, down at the other end of the field, a young freshman phenom goaltender by the name of Katherine Heaney allowed no more than one goal in 10 of 13 regular-season games. In all 13 games, she gave up just 13 goals for a 1.00 goals against average, with five shutouts and five one-goal games. Julia Hamilton (14) was one of the big keys on defense.

While the Big Green outscored its opponents by a commanding 42-12 advantage this season, that didn’t mean they were void of any close encounters. Deerfield knocked off Taft, 2-1, on goals by Kate Swindell (14) and Lytle and bested Westminster by the same score on a pair of Mettler Growney tallies. And, thanks to second-half scores by Elizabeth Growney (16) and Lytle, Deerfield battled back from two goals down to tie Andover, 2-2.

Only one team – eventual champion Phillips Exeter Academy – placed as many runners among the top dozen finishers as Deerfield Academy did during this year’s New England Prep School Athletic Conference Boys Division I Cross Country Championships. Both squads rang up three: The Big Red filled the first, seventh and tenth slots that were good for 18 points. The Big Green, meanwhile, laid claim to the fourth, ninth and 12^th spots, to give it 25 points during the early juncture of the competition and a leg up on at least finishing second in this annual showdown for a third straight year.

From that point on, however, these two rivals reached a fork in the course. Exeter went north, securing its second straight New England title with 62 points, as its next two runners wound up 16^th and 28^th. Deerfield, however, saw its medal run erode as it took the southern route, with its final two finishers hitting the line at 74^th and 81^st. Its final score of 180 saw the Big Green finish ninth out of a field of 14 teams.

On the bright side, Deerfield wound up just three points out of seventh place, as Milton and Brunswick both finished just two points ahead of the Big Green. Northfield Mount Hermon School grabbed a second-place finish on the day with an 82-point effort, while Choate, a team Deerfield had defeated earlier in the season by a narrow 29-30 margin, was the third medal winner, finishing with 134 points.

This fall’s group of Big Green harriers opened the season with hopes and dreams of being among the elite in New England, and a blue-ribbon finish at the prestigious Canterbury Invitational Meet did nothing to dampen those aspirations. Deerfield’s fearsome foursome led the charge with Robert Beit (13), who would earn this year’s Moreau Hunt Trophy as the team’s premier runner, finishing second, Ben Wood (13) and George Reich (13) placing fifth and seventh respectively, and Reed Horton (14) coming in 11^th.

The week after that victory lap at Canterbury, however, one of the wheels fell off the Big Green’s train that would hopefully take it to Medalsville. Horton went down for what proved to be the remainder of the season with a stress fracture in his leg.

“Depth is as important to the success of a cross country team as talent is,” said coach Mike Schloat, “and when Reed went down, we lost that bridge you need to connect our top three runners with the rest of the squad.”

Then, about a week later, according to Beit, another wheel fell off, when David Hamilton, Deerfield’s No. 5 runner, was knocked out of commission and was forced to the sidelines for what also proved to be the rest of the season. That gap then became all too evident during the New England meet, as Deerfield’s top three finishers “ran just about the way we had projected they would,” said Schloat, of a fourth-place finish by Beit (15:44), just 20 seconds off the winning time, a ninth-place finish by Wood (16:05) and a 12^th spot by Reich (16:09). With Horton and Hamilton on the sidelines and unable to ill that gap, which by now must have resembled the Grand Canyon to the remaining Big Green runners, Deerfield’s next finisher was Gene Thagard (15), who wound up 74^th in a time of 17:39, while Teddy Romeyn (13), the recipient of this year’s Peter Brush Award, was 81^st in 17:45.

A lot can happen in 90 seconds during a championship cross-country meet, and during the 90 seconds that elapsed between Reich and Thagard finishing the race, 62 opponents – that’s about one runner every 1.5 seconds – crossed the finish line and took Deerfield right out of the medals equation.

“It’s just the nature of the game … it’s the nature of any sport you play … injuries are going to occur and you just have to move on and compensate for them the best you can,” said Schloat. “And that’s exactly what these kids did this year. We may not have finished as strongly as a team as we had hoped, but all the kids produced their best individual times of the season at the New England race and as a coach, that’s all you can ask of your runners. I’m very proud of their efforts.”

“Losing two of your top five runners is frustrating,” admitted Beit, “but it was something we all had to learn to deal with and did our best to overcome it. The tough part was hearing from time to time that they might come back and then, in the end, they were unable to.

“Unfortunately, in the end, however, it proved to be just too big a gap,” added Beit, “and although we had a group of strong runners, our fourth and fifth guys just didn’t have the experience that it takes to make up the difference.”

Deerfield’s top trio of Beit, Reich and Wood appeared to be joined at the hip this season, as their finishes at the New England meet were about the furthest they would stray from each other at the finish line all season long. In addition to a 2-5-7 finish at Canterbury, Beit wound up first at Westminster, while Reich and Wood were third and fifth respectively.

During a sweep of a tri-meet early in the season, nipping Choate, 29-30, and outlasting Loomis, 27-30, these three would exhibit the ultimate show of camaraderie, finishing 1-2-3, in a span of just seven seconds. Even in losses, you couldn’t separate these three amigos. During a 17-44 setback to a power-packed Exeter squad, Beit was fifth in 16:33, just 42 seconds off the pace of Exeter’s Kieran Scannel, who would go on to win individual honors at the New England meet, while Wood was sixth.

Against Andover, which would wind up fourth at the New England meet, Deerfield dropped a close 27-32 decision, as Beit finished second, Reich third and Wood fourth. A first, fourth and fifth combo by this trio saw the effort come up a little short, as NMH, the silver medalist at the New England classic, held on for a 26-33 victory.   

Among the cherished moments Heidi Valk will remember about the 2012 Big Green girls soccer season will be all those long faces she could see on the Loomis Chaffee sidelines. Another thing she is sure to remember is how they got there.

“I’ve been a part of the girls soccer program here at Deerfield Academy for 21 of its 24 years,” said the veteran mentor, “and we’d never, ever beaten Loomis Chaffee. We’d tied them before … but never beaten them.

“They run a high-end program down there,” added Valk, with a tip of the cap to a school that has won five New England Class A girls soccer titles since the 2000 season. “Year in and year out, they send a good percentage of their seniors off to Division I college programs and it’s tough to compete against programs like that.”

This fall would appear no different. The Big Green, which owned a 6-2-0 record at the midway mark of the season, hosted Loomis and fell by a 3-1 margin. Deerfield would bounce back, however, finish up at 8-4-2 and earn an eighth-seed in postseason play. That last-but-not-least berth earned Valk and her charges a visit to the top seed: Loomis. This time, however, things would be different. This time David would slay Goliath.

“I’d have to say this was the biggest thing to happen to this program since 1997 when we went undefeated, but lost to Buckingham Brown & Nichols in the tournament finals,” said Valk of the Big Green’s 1-0 win over Loomis.

What will go down as quite possibly the biggest goal ever scored in this program was netted by Claire Goss (13), following a shot by Mercedes Fissore-O’Leary (15).

“Mercedes made the original shot, which the Loomis goaltender made the save on,” explained Valk. “After she made the save, however, the ball bounced off the crossbar and dropped down in front of the net, and Claire just kicked it in.

“I really can’t take much credit about scoring that goal,” said a modest Goss, who scored two of her team’s three goals last year to lead Twin Falls (Idaho) High School to its district championship. “Mercedes did all the work … she dribbled through the defense and took the shot. I just happened to be standing in the right place and kicked the ball past the goalie, who was still on the ground.

“It was a very satisfying goal,” added Goss, who scored 42 of them in just 18 games last fall. “The Loomis goalie was very impressive. She plays on an Under-18 National Team and is very good and it felt good to get one past her.”

So, the good news was that Deerfield was now leading, 1-0, the bad news was it had to maintain that slimmest of leads for nearly the entire second half.

“We scored just five minutes into the second half, so all we had to for the next 35 minutes was to keep the best team in New England from scoring,” said Valk. “We did it, but to me it seemed more like 35 years.”

That’s where goaltender Libby Murray (14) and her defensive cohorts took over and came up big, “as Loomis moved just about all of their players into their offensive zone and booted everything at us that they could,” said Valk.

“Fortunately, Libby was up to the challenge as she was called upon to make a number of outstanding saves down the stretch in order to preserve the win for us.”

And with the sound of the final whistle came a vivid contrast along the two sidelines.

“You could just see it in their faces on the Loomis sidelines,” said Valk, “they couldn’t believe what had just happened … everybody … the players … the fans … everyone was in shock.”

Behind her, Valk had only to turn around to witness what the thrill of victory was all about  – and it appeared to be well worth the wait. “All the kids were just going crazy,” remembers Valk. “They were so excited at pulling off such a huge upset … in some ways, our season could have ended right there … it would have made for a perfect ending.”

The Big Green’s season didn’t end there, though. It ended three days later in the semifinal round, where it wound up on the short end of a 2-0 score to Nobles.

That setback marked just the fourth time all season long that a stingy Big Green defense allowed more than one goal in a game, as Murray keyed the way, averaging just over seven saves a game, while sporting a minuscule 1.25 goals against average. Murray would be the first to admit, however, that she had plenty of help from her friends. That group would be made up of defenseman Cate Wadman (13), who shared this year’s Marjorie Ellis Cup, as the team’s Most Valuable Player, with Vanessa Avalone (13). Julia Fissore-O’Leary (15), Caroline Coppinger (15) and Allie Roberts (16) also played key defensive rolls, as did midfielder Alex Hrabchak (15).

Offensively, Goss not only scored the biggest goal of the season, she also scored the most this season for the Big Green. Despite missing nearly half the season with mono, then a concussion, followed by a sprained ankle, the postgraduate student, whom Valk described as “the only Division I college girls soccer recruit (Dartmouth) we’ve had here in quite some time,” made her brief stay worthwhile, as she netted eight goals on the season and earned a berth on the Boston Globe All-Scholastic Team. Tally Behringer (14) followed with seven, while Mercedez Fissore-O’Leary, who was named to the Western New England Prep School Girls Soccer League All-Star team along with her twin sister, Julia, followed with six. The trio thus accounted for 21 of the 27 goals Deerfield scored on the season.

“This was a fantastic season,” said Valk, “and despite the success we achieved, we’re still a pretty young team. We’re losing just five seniors to graduation, so I’m hoping the kids who played a part of our success this season will gain confidence in what they did, return and build on what we’ve accomplished here.

“Claire’s soccer talents were astounding and she proved to be a tremendous leader for us both on and off the field,” added Valk, but I think with both Tally and Mercedes returning, they can help fill the scoring void.

“Defensively, we have most of the pieces coming back,” continued Valk, “so if we’re able to get a couple of new faces who can help us out and we’re able to remain healthy, I don’t see why we can’t make another run at postseason play.”

A hot start was followed by a chilly finish this season, as the Deerfield Academy volleyball team finished its 2012 campaign with a 6-8 record – and no tournament invitation. The Big Green opened this fall’s session with a 4-1 showing, only to pull out two more victories over the final nine games.

“The results really weren’t there this year as far as the wins and losses were concerned,” said coach John Pineo, “but overall, I felt we played together as a team quite well. I felt our players developed their skill levels over the season and our overall level of play was up.”

The problem for Deerfield was the fact that of its last seven league games, six were against tournament-bound teams. That list included top seed and eventual champion, Andover, which downed the Big Green, 3-0, while second-seeded St. Paul’s took a 3-1, decision, and No. 3 Taft grabbed a 3-0 decision. Fourth-ranked Northfield Mount Hermon School prevailed, 3-1, while fifth-seeded Choate prevailed by a 3-1 count.

Ashley So (13), who was named this year’s Most Valuable Player, was one of the team’s defensive specialists this season as an outside hitter, as was Hannah Insuik (13), an outside hitter as well. Lizzie Jeffrey (13) turned in a strong season as a setter.

Other contributors included Kate Ginna (14), a middle hitter, as well as Caroline Dye (14), an outside hitter, Caroline Baldwin (14) and Claire Collins (15), both inside hitters. Catherine Fleming (15) and Maggie Kidder (16) were both setters, while Kemi Akande (15) was positioned at center outside, while Zahra Rawji (15) was a setter. Chloe So (15) was a defensive specialist.

Pineo pointed to a 3-2 victory over Loomis, the seventh seed in the tournament, as probably the high point of the past season.

“We were trailing Loomis, two games to one,” explained Pineo, “and were trailing 25-24 in the fourth game, but we battled back to win that game and then went on to capture the deciding fifth game and won the match, 3-2. It was just a tremendous victory for the kids.” 

There’s one piece of advice that many water polo players should heed above all other instruction: Keep your chin up!

This little tip has nothing to do with pulling yourself out of a slump, but rather avoiding a nosedive – straight to the bottom. A mouthful of water can leave you short of breath, your teammates shorthanded and your coach assembling a search party.

Obtaining a list of the lifeguard schedule has not proven to be high on Mark Scandling’s pregame prerequisite list, however. The Big Green coach knows his players know they weren’t born with gills, and he knows they know there’s a .768 percent chance they’re going to beat the brains out of the guys in the different colored swim caps.

Over the past six years, as skipper of the Deerfield Academy boys water polo program, Scandling has turned out a nearly unsinkable flotilla that has rung up a  96-29 record – for a .768 winning percentage. That figure also includes postseason games, where his charges have earned six consecutives invitations, six straight Final Four appearances and four New England Prep School Athletic Conference Tournament championships.

When it comes to its six tournament appearances, the Big Green has proven to be an all-or-nothing entry. The four-time gold medalist and two-time defending champion went home this year, as it did in 2009, empty-handed. This fall, Deerfield lost its semifinal round contest to Choate, 11-4, then dropped its third-place game to Brunswick, 9-7, after the Big Green’s leading scorer, Conor Sullivan (14), who posted 65 goals on the season, was forced to leave the game in the third period due to a broken finger. Exeter went on to win the title with a victory over Choate in the finals.

Despite finishing its season at 15-6 this fall, “due to an overabundance of injuries, we had a tough time sustaining our continuity,” said Scandling. “The injuries constantly forced us to come up with makeshift lineups, which incorporated a number of the younger players on the team. They all stepped up when their time came, however, so we’re hoping the unexpected experience they gained this season will prove to be helpful down the line.

One thing that the Big Green youth movement certainly helped was the team’s scoring. Not only did this crew tally 188 goals on the season, for an 8.9 goals per game average, “some of the younger kids chipped in and allowed us to have a much more balanced scoring attack than we might have had,” said Scandling. So, the Big Green mentor can now look forward to inviting three of his top four scorers back next season. In addition to Sullivan, a sophomore this season, next year’s roster will also include juniors Quinn Smith and Hugo Marsans, who finished third and fourth on the scoring charts this season with 23 and 21 goals respectively. Co-captain Oscar Miao (13), who received this year’s Coaches Award, was the club’s No. 2 scorer with 32 goals.

Miao, who was a part of two New England championships during his three-year stint on the varsity, credited his coach as the main reason why the Big Green has become such a consistent winner over the last three years.

“Coach Scandling prepares us very well for anything and everything that could possibly happen during a game,” said Miao. “He also teaches us to remain calm and patient, especially if it’s late in the game and we’re behind. He always stresses the fact that if we lose our cool, we end up helping our opponents and if we keep our cool, good things will happen … and they have.”

That fact could be found in the score sheets, as the No. 3 ranked Big Green saw six of its games settled by two goals or less this season, and in those close contests, Deerfield finished 5-1. It went 3-0 in one-goal games, and 2-1 in games decided by a two-goal margin.

“We lost, but we weren’t defeated,” said Scandling of his team’s back-to-back tournament setbacks, which marked the only time all season long that Deerfield lost two games in a row. “The kids learned a lot from their playing time this season and it should really help us as a good number of them will be returning,” continued the Deerfield mentor of a 17-man roster that listed just six seniors.

In addition to welcoming back three of his top four scorers, Scandling will once again have a pair of goalies to call upon next season in Francesco Franzinetti (14) and Patrick Hadley (14) who pretty much split this year’s goaltending duties right down the middle. They will also have Marsans around to help them out once again, as Scandling considers him “one of the best two-meter defensive specialists in the league.” And that’s quite a compliment, as the two-meter defensive specialists earn the unenviable task of trying to keep the opponent’s top scorer from scoring.

“I think things look good for next year,” said Miao, who has played his last competitive water polo game, as he has a roster spot awaiting him on next year’s Yale swimming team. “They have some key offensive people returning, as well as some important people on defense and both goalies, so I think they should be motivated to regain the championship, ” said the departing co-captain, who made it clear he’s not going to miss “all the pulling … tugging … grabbing … kicking … and scratching that goes on underneath the surface of the water and therefore, is pretty much undetectable by the referees.”

Cross-country coaches were born to beat the clock. There’s not a second that goes by that they wouldn’t like to just reach out … grab one … and crunch it. In fact, just the mere thought of trimming even a tenth of a tick off one itsy-bitsy second will find them urging their stopwatches to “make my day!”

Dennis Cullinane is no different.  The Deerfield Academy girls cross country coach   packs a stopwatch, too, and when it comes to getting his charges to cram more distance into less time, he’s become one of the best in the business in the New England prep school ranks. As for making predictions on his clockwork, well, that’s another story. For that, Cullinane relies on a different timepiece – a calendar.

“I’ve been coaching here for six years now,” said Cullinane, “and after my first year,” a year in which the Big Green finished ninth at the New England Championships, “I felt it would take us five years to make it to the top.”

Well, bingo! It’s been five years since his self-imposed countdown to the top began and there’s Deerfield, right where Cullinane said it would be: No. 1.

To his credit, it would appear as though the Deerfield mentor was able to get each and every one of his runners to buy into his quest to be best during that five-year span, as Cullinane’s clans never encountered a single speed bump as they churned their way toward the top rung. Following that ninth-place finish in 2007, his girls placed eighth the next year. In 2009, they finished sixth. From there, it’s been a steady trip to the medals podium. In 2010, Deerfield placed third, last year, it was second, and now, it’s No. 1.   

“I’m not a bit surprised that we won the title,” said Cullinane of the school’s first blue ribbon ever garnered from the New England Prep School Athletic Conference Division I Girls Cross Country Championships, “but I am surprised by the magnitude of the win.”

What Cullinane meant by the magnitude of the win was the margin of victory. The Big Green literally ran away with this crowning achievement and never looked back. Like golf, low score wins here, too. So when Deerfield pulled in with 39 points, Choate was left to fight off the rest of the field by finishing a distant second, 69 points behind at 108. Phillips Exeter wound up third with 132 points.

“I was situated about 500 meters into the (5 kilometer) race course taking pictures,” explained Cullinane, and what he saw coming at him that day will remain with him – pictures or no pictures – for quite some time. “I remember watching a wall of green and white uniforms leading the pack … it was an awesome sight,” added the proud mentor, “and I knew if our kids could maintain their positions, this race would be over early.”

Well, they did, and it was. The Big Green, which played bridesmaid in this event last year, finishing second to Nobles, was this year’s bride. Deerfield proved to be a runaway bride as well, as it placed four runners in the top 10 and six in the top 15 during the title trek, which was hosted by Loomis-Chaffee School. Deerfield’s dominance at the front end of the race allowed it to put this showcase on ice before 20 of a field of 98 runners had made it to the finish line.

“I was expecting our kids to put on a real solid effort and, barring something totally unexpected, like an injury, I was very confident of a victory, but I must say I wasn’t expecting the dominance we showed,” said Cullinane. “That’s simply because each and every one of these girls dug down and came up with their best effort of the season. And as a cross country coach, that’s exactly the way you want it … saving the best for last.”

With the sound of the starter’s pistol, Cullinane’s duties as coach could now be refocused on becoming the team’s primary cheerleader and some of his sis … boom … bahs had to be directed toward another Cullinane, his niece, Devinne Cullinane (14). No nepotism here, however. This Cullinane could run for Joe Shmoe and still be the leader of the pack, as witnessed by what she’s done at Deerfield the past two years.

The latest feat by this two-time winner of the Moreau Hunt Trophy, which is annually presented to the team’s most valuable runner, was a third-place finish in this fall’s New England classic in a time of 18:22, just 1:05 off the gold-medal pace. That’s up five slots from her eighth-place finish last year. In fact, the New England race marked the first time this fall Cullinane was positioned to watch someone’s backside cross the finish line in front of her. That’s because she was undefeated entering this showdown, having won both the Canterbury and Westminster Invitational meets as well as a clean sweep through her dual meets.  

 Lilah Lutes (14) was right on Cullinane’s heels, finishing fourth in 18:26, while Phoebe Morss (15) was eighth at 18:44 and Emma Decamp (13) was 10^th in 18:47. Tatum McInerney (13) and Molly Hunt (14), meanwhile, were 14^th and 15^th with respective times of 19:14 and 19:19.

“Running for my uncle really isn’t any different than running for my father,” admitted the younger Cullinane, who is just one in a long line of family members who runs. “They both have a knack of bringing out the best in you.

“My dad, who spent a lot of time coaching me during my younger years, and my mom, both ran in college. My dad ran cross country, while my mom was a marathoner and has run the Boston Marathon a number of times,” added the younger Cullinane, who broke into the sport when she was 5, which is about 11 years ago, now.

Being the youngest of six siblings, “I had five older brothers,” explained Cullinane, who owes much of her early running experience to the weekend fun runs that were held around her Hampton, N.H., hometown. “But always finishing last to your five older brothers took the fun part out of it,” quipped Cullinane.

Fortunately for uncle Dennis, who is a former state high school cross country champion and Boston Globe All-Scholastic Team member who later ran for the University of Maryland, Devinne has progressed from worst in her house to one of the best in New England.

“I’m extremely proud of her,” said the elder Cullinane, “but then again, I’m proud of all the girls … cross country is a team sport.”

Cullinane, who went into this fall’s showdown having stated that “this is the best cross country team Deerfield has ever had,” was so confident in his team’s talent and depth, he listed three possible scenarios this New England showcase could take – and had Deerfield prevailing in all three.

“The best-case scenario was that we won by scoring in the 40s,” explained Cullinane. “The middle-case scenario was we finished in the 60-point range and the worst-case scenario was that we finished in the 80s. But even then, I still felt we had the talent and the depth to prevail. To win with 39 points and to win by 69 points, though … I was shocked by those numbers.”

He shouldn’t have been. He welcomed back all but one of his primary runners from last year’s silver-medal club. In addition, heading into this fall’s title trek, Deerfield had enjoyed its second consecutive undefeated regular season.  Plus, it had defeated all comers in the prestigious Canterbury Invitational Meet for the third straight year and captured the Westminster Invitational as well.

As for future prognostications, this Big Green mentor may want to quit while he’s ahead. But one thing’s for sure: after finishing ninth, eighth, sixth, third, second and first in his quest to be best, “We’ve finally run out of wiggle room,” quipped Cullinane.

“In 45 years of coaching, I’ve never been through a season like this one,” said Big Green mentor Mike Silippo. “I can never remember one team being hit by so many injuries … they began during preseason workouts and scrimmages and continued throughout the entire season. Football’s a physical sport and you expect injuries to occur, but what we went through this season was something else.”

These injuries weren’t the least bit prejudice as to what part of the body they’d leave a tale of the tape on, either. They ran the gamut … from head to toe … from concussions to a broken foot. And from the concussion end, “I know we reached double digits there,” said Chip Davis, the team’s defensive coordinator, “and that’s a minimum of one to two weeks of recovery time for those.”

While the concussions were numerous, the broken foot proved to be the one injury that probably caused the biggest impact on the Big Green this fall. That’s because the foot in question belonged to quarterback Damien Vega. It sidelined him for the season and sent the coaching staff scurrying to find a replacement … then another … and then another.

“Damien broke his foot during our second game of the season … against Taft,” said Silippo of his highly touted post grad QB who had taken Norwalk (Conn.) High School through a season that earned him All-State honors and to its first playoff victory in 13 years the previous fall. “The weird thing about the injury was that he hurt his foot while running into the end zone for a touchdown. In fact,” added Silippo, who would watch four different quarterbacks take control of his offense this season, “he wasn’t even touched on the play, he just hurdled an opposing player and landed on his foot wrong and when he did, he broke a small bone in it.”

Minus its No. 1 field general, the Big Green fell to Taft that day, 27-26. It would mark the beginning of a four-game losing streak, send Deerfield reeling to a 3-5 season and stick a pin in what Silippo had described as “some high hopes we had to begin with.”

And, the deeper his team made its way through the season, the more the Deerfield skipper found himself reflecting on that scrimmage. That team Silippo’s Big Green would more than hold its own against that day, would go on to ring up an undefeated regular season at 8-0, then earn the title of “Best of the Best” after knocking off Exeter, 29-26, in overtime to capture the New England Prep School Athletic Conference Class A Super Bowl. Following that feat, Silippo the was left to ponder that question every coach in every sport is forced to deal with at one time or another: “what if … ?”

What if the Big Green hadn’t turned into the Red Cross?

What if Silippo hadn’t had to use as many quarterbacks this fall as he had during the last four seasons, combined?

What if one of those quarterbacks, Billy Smith (13), who still managed to lead the team in receptions, could have played the entire season at his primary position – wide receiver? What if the Deerfield coaching staff hadn’t had to name honorary captains for the Exeter game because Big Green co-captains Ray Hogan (13) and JR Mastro (13) were both unable play due to injuries?

What if Silippo hadn’t given Emerson Logie (16) a shot at DAQB No. 4, due to his youth and inexperience? The Big Green mentor did though, summoning the starting JV signal caller up to the varsity and watched the freshman enjoy more success than any of his predecessors had this season by winning two of the three games he started. Thus, from the ashes, some timber to possibly build a future team or two around.

Following a convincing 33-7 season-opening victory over Northfield-Mount Hermon School, Deerfield owned a 26-14 second-half lead over defending New England Class A champion Taft, which went 6-2 this season, but that’s about as good as it would get for this year’s Deerfield squad. Before the final whistle had sounded, the Big Green had lost its numbers one and two quarterbacks. Following Vega’s injury, his replacement, Harrison Lane (15), soon joined him on the bench with a concussion and a separated shoulder.

QB No. 3 was Smith, a post grad out of Westfield, Mass., who had quarterbacked Westfield High School to the Western Mass. Division I Super Bowl the previous year. While leading the Bombers program, however, Smith served primarily as a running quarterback, but started – and finished – his season at Deerfield as the team’s primary wide receiver. Smith, who was also a mainstay in the secondary, where he posted three interceptions and earned a share of this year’s Thomas Ashley Memorial Award for his efforts, hauled in 24 passes for three touchdowns and 254 yards. Smith split the Ashley Award with tailback John Jackson (13), who was the Big Green’s leading rusher this fall, as he covered 852 yards on 138 carries for a hefty 6.1 yards-per-carry average and 10 touchdowns.

Big Green girls cross country coach Dennis Cullinane isn’t the least bit shy in explaining his interpretation of why his runners have been doing so well so far this season.

“This is the best girls cross country team Deerfield Academy has had since the school went coed back in 1989,” said Cullinane.

In other words, the veteran mentor is saying this is the best girls cross country team Deerfield has ever had, and although he has only been here for six of those years, there’s plenty of evidence to back up his sentiment – evidence that would include some hardware already earned this fall. 

What really brings Cullinane’s opinion into focus, however, is the fact that his squad finished second at the New England Championships last year, “and we have everyone returning from that team.”

 Getting the current season off and running by capturing the Canterbury Invitational – which annually boats a 25-team field – for the third consecutive year certainly won’t hurt expectations any. Then, one week later, they lugged the Westminster Invitational trophy home with them after successfully defending their title in that 10-team affair.

This is not the only girls team that is enjoying success so far this fall, however, as the school’s other three programs have also been ringing up way more wins than losses and if this trend continues, the Big Green could be sending all four of its girls teams into tourney play for the first time ever.

“I think the goal of any athletic director is to be competitive in every sport,” said Chip Davis, the school’s AD, “It’s always nice to have those one or two teams that are considered to be the frontrunners but ideally, it’s great to see the wide-spread competitive success we’re enjoying so far this fall … especially from our girls teams”

 Heading into this weekend’s action, Deerfield’s other three girls squads (field hockey is 7-3, soccer is 6-3 and volleyball is 5-3) are enjoying great starts and most of the boys teams are doing well, too. The Big Green’s defending New England champion water polo team currently stands at 11-3, cross country has won the coveted Canterbury crown and placed second at the Westminster race. The soccer team (3-5-1) has rebounded from an 0-4 start to go 3-1-1, while football “has been ravaged by injuries this season,” said Davis, and has played a big part in a 1-3 start. Despite the injuries, which include a broken foot to quarterback Damien Vega, the Big Green has hung tough, dropping a 27-26 decision to Taft and a 21-14 game to Hotchkiss.

“We’ve got a big D on our front and a big target on our back,” quipped Cullinane, but it’s no laughing matter, especially for Deerfield’s opponents. His team, which went undefeated during the regular season and has bested about 28 teams during that streak, isn’t about to sneak up on anyone with that sort of resume.

Cullinane’s niece, Devinne Cullinane (14), has made him proud. After placing sixth at last year’s New England meet, she has shown this year that that was no fluke, winning at Canterbury in a time of 19:41, and was first to finish at Westminster as well.

Even with such solid foes as Exeter, Andover and Northfield Mount Hermon still remaining on the schedule, Cullinane feels he has the depth for his squad to continue its winning ways hopefully to and through the New England Championships.

That depth includes senior tri-captains Tatum McInerney, Rose Fisher and Dashiell Shulte, as well as Emma DeCamp (13), Molly Hunt (14), Lilah Lutes (14), Olivia Mehm (14), Kyle Davis (14), Lauren Isley (17) and Phoebe Morss (15).

Boys Cross Country

After finishing second at the New England Cross Country Championships the past two years, the Big Green boys are hoping to make it up that last rung of the ladder this fall to give Deerfield its first boys and girls sweep of the championship in school history.

All the pieces were in place, as coach Mike Schloat lost just one of his top five runners to graduation. He had the horses up front and the depth as well this fall to allow this Deerfield mentor to be thinking  “this could be the year.” Those hopes and dreams were put on hold, however, shortly after the Canterbury race when Reed Horton (14), Deerfield’s No. 4 runner who placed 11th at the invitational, developed a stress fracture in his leg a few days later.

“He will have an X-ray taken next week,” explained Cullinane. “If it has healed, he could probably make it back in time for the New England meet. If it’s not, it’s doubtful he would have enough time to get himself back in running shape for the championship race … we should know by Wednesday.

With Horton on the sidelines, the Big Green may not end up with enough points to finish on top or to even finish second for a third consecutive year. With three weeks remaining until show time, however, it’s so far … so good.

That’s because Deerfield’s one … two … three punch has been pretty much finishing one  … two … three. Robert Beit (13) placed second at Canterbury (16:38), while he won the Westminster race in a meet record time of 16:55. Ben Wood (13) and George Reich (13), who, along with Teddy Romeyn (13), serve as tri-captains, have also been chipping in. Wood was fifth at both Canterbury and Westminster, while Reich was seventh at Canterbury and third at Westminster.

“With Horton in the lineup at No. 4, he helps bridge the gap to our second wave of runners,” explained Schloat. That second wave consists of Ethan Brand-LaBarge (16), Romeyn, Gene Thagard 915) and Warner Brown (13).

Field Hockey

If there is one thing you can count on during the fall at Deerfield Academy, it’s that the Big Green field hockey team will earn a berth in the playoffs. This program, which has captured six Western New England titles over two decades of playing time, has extended its season on 16 occasions. And from the looks of things, another invite should be in the mail soon.

The Big Green has won eight of its first 10 games and outscored its opponents by a 3-to-1 margin: 31-10.

“We’ve gotten off to a terrific start and I just hope it continues,” said coach Kristen Viega. “We’re a young team … we have only five seniors on the roster … but the few seniors we do have, have shown great leadership and have helped instill confidence in the younger players and made this a very determined team. “

Three Big Green players have collected two-thirds of Deerfield’s goals this season. Mettler Growney (13) has 12 points on eight goals and four assists, while Lucy Lytle (15) has six goals and three assists for nine points.  Maggie Shilling (14), meanwhile, has eight points on seven goals and one assist.

Things have been going quite well down at the other end of the field as well, as goalie Katherine Heaney (16) has allowed just 10 goals in 10 games.

The rookie netminder has received a great deal of help from her defensive corps in front of her, which includes Emily Yue (16), Louisa Hanson (13), Julia Hamilton (14) and Lindsey Ziglar (13).

Girls Soccer

The Big Green has scored just 18 goals in nine games so far this season, but they are making them count. The Deerfield girls soccer team has already won more games this season than it did during the entire 2011 campaign. A year ago, the team finished at 5-6-3. This year, it’s off to a 6-3 start, thanks in large part to a defense allowed just 13 goals for a stingy 1.44 goals against average.

“We’ve really got a great team here this year,” said Heidi Valk. “We’ve got a good blend of veterans and a bunch of new kids who are really chipping in and making their presence known and the blend has been really paying off for us … the entire team is playing with much more confidence this season.”

Tally Behringer (14) has been the Big Green’s leading goal getter this fall with six, while Vanessa Avalone (13), Claire Goss (13) and Mercedes Fissore-O’Leary have also helped bolster the Deerfield offense.

Goaltender Libby Murray (14) has orchestrated Deerfield’s stingy defense by registering a pair of shutouts and allowed just a single goal in four other outings and has come up with an average of seven saves a game.  She has been ably assisted by some strong defensive play by Cate Wadman (13), Julia Fissore-O’Leary (15), Caroline Coppinger (15) and Allie Roberts (16).

“We’ve beaten some pretty strong soccer programs this season in Exeter, Milton and Williston,” said Valk, “and that’s helped build our confidence. We’ve still got a long way to go and a bunch of tough teams remain on our schedule, but we’ll see how far our talent and confidence will take us.”

Volleyball

Deerfield’s volleyball team has rung up a 5-3 record so far this season and appears to be taking advantage of a strong corps of returning veterans and a bunch of capable newcomers.

The top returnees are Hannah Insuik (13), who earned Boston Globe All-Scholastic honors for her play around the net last season. Plus, she also earned a berth on the Western New England All-Star squad, along with Ashley So (13).  With those two leading the way on the Big Green side of the net, Caroline Dye (14) has also returned to the fold, as has Kate Ginna (14). Some of the younger faces who have been contributing so far belong to Zahra Rawji (15), Claire Collins (15) and Maggie Kidder (16).

“This is a great bunch of kids to work with,” said coach Jon Pineo, “they really work hard, they’re focused. We still have a lot of things to work on, but they’re showing more and more improvement every time they head out onto the court.”

Last year’s squad which won just seven games during the regular season earned an invite to the A Division tournament, so this year’s edition should have a good chance as well as it enters the home stretch.

“They take the top eight teams in each of the brackets,” said Pineo, “and right now, I’d say we’re probably ranked sixth or seventh in the standings.”

Water Polo

“We’re still working to be at our best when it counts the most,” said Big Green water polo coach Mark Scandling of a program that has exhibited that trait quite frequently over the past few years. Over the past few years, Scandling has gotten his teams to just about walk on water as they have won two straight New England championships and four of the past five crowns and with an 11-3 record on the season, opponents better have their lifeguards on duty when the Big Green shows up.

“We’ve been improving primarily because of our commitment to team defense,” said Scandling, “and I think we demonstrated that sense of purpose in defeating Choate a couple of weeks ago. During the first game of the season, we allowed them to score 13 goals on us. In our second meeting this season, they scored just five.”

Overall, Deerfield’s defense has stood up to its opponents, allowing 116 goals in 15 games for an average of eight per game The Big Green offense, meanwhile, has found the back of the net 150 times. The guys in the green caps have reached double figures in 10 of their 14 contests, while opponents have reached that mark just five times, and only once in the past eight outings.

A trio of players has been defending the Deerfield goal this season, “and doing it very effectively,” according to their coach. Those three are Francesco Franzinetti (14), Patrick Hadley (14) and Tyler Early. A newcomer, Hugo Marsans (14) “has been playing excellent defense at the 2-meter position for us this season,” said Scandling.

Leading Deerfield’s high-powered offense this season has been Oscar Miao (13), Quinn Smith (14) and Conor Sullivan (15).

Boys Soccer

The Big Green boys soccer team hits the half-way mark heading in the right direction. It didn’t start out that way, however, as an 0-4 beginning had “long season” written all over it. Following a tough 4-3 loss to perennial powerhouse Kent, however, interim coach Tom Heise, who is filling in for Jan Flaska this fall, got his charges to make a U-turn in south-bound traffic and got them heading in a northerly direction.

That means Deerfield has run off a 3-1-1 showing so far in the month of October, the highlight of which being a stunning 3-2 victory over defending New England champion Hotchkiss, “and we haven’t beaten them in quite some time,” said Heise. Jackson Dayton (13) the team’s leading scorer, led the way to the upset with a pair of goals on the day, while Luke Walsh (13) scored the game winner. Andrew Shediac (13), meanwhile, turned in an outstanding performance in goal for the Big Green.

Others contributing up front for Deerfield have been Stephen Baisch (14) and Zz Salvador (14), while Adam Philie (13) heads up the defensive crew.

“I’m really proud of this entire team,” said Heise. “They’re just a wonderful group of kids and it’s been a tremendous thrill for me to have been able to coach them.

“They’re a hard-working bunch as well, “ added Heise, ”and I think that hard work is beginning to pay off.”

Football

What began as a promising season following a commanding 33-7 victory over arch-rival Northfield Mount Hermon School, has dipped to a 1-3 showing at the halfway mark as this Deerfield squad has been besieged by a rash of injuries.

Despite the loss of players, the victories haven’t come easy for the Big Green’s opponents. It lost to Taft by a 27-26 margin in what Chip Davis, the team’s defensive coordinator described as “our best played game of the season.” Then came a loss to Hotchkiss by a 21-14 count.

The biggest loss of the season was quarterback Damien Vega (13) who suffered a broken foot against Taft and will miss the remainder of the season.

As far as Saturday’s game at Exeter (4-0 on the season), Deerfield will head into the game without any official captains suiting up. Both co-captains – linebacker and fullback Ray Horgan (13) and linebacker and center JR Mastro (13) – are on the shelf with knee and shoulder injuries respectively.

Billy Smith (13), who is primarily a receiver but who played quarterback in high school has filled in for Vega at quarterback, while John Jackson (14) has proven to be the Big Green’s leading rusher.